Captive flying toy

ABSTRACT

A novel control mechanism for a captive flying toy wherein the toy is attached to the outer end of a boom and rotates around a centrally located pylon. The pylon includes battery, a motor, a turntable and suitable gearing, and a control mechanism that is mechanically actuated by controls that are located outside of the orbit of the flying toy. The flying toy orbits in one direction right side up and in the other direction upside down. The control mechanism allows the direction of flight of the flying toy to be instantaneously changed so that the flying toy may perform various simulated flying stunts.

United States Patent [1 1 Summerfield et al.

[ 1 CAPTIVE FLYING TOY [75] Inventors: William F. Summerfield; Joseph F.

Plizzotto, both of Huntington Beach; Denis V. Bosley, Palos VerdesPeninsula, all of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif. [22] Filed: Nov. 5, 1973[2]] Appl. No.: 412,948

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,123,653 1/1915 Anderson etal 272/31 A UX 2,075,267 3/1937 Christiansen 272/31 A 2,206,750 7/1940Nove 272/31 A 1 Jan.7, 1975 3,657,457 4/1972 Poynter 273/1 M X PrimaryExaminer-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Arnold W. Kramer Attorney,Agent, or Firm-John G. Mesaros; Max E. Shirk [57] ABSTRACT A novelcontrol mechanism for a captive flying toy wherein the toy is attachedto the outer end ota boom and rotates around a centrally located pylon.The pylon includes battery, a motor, a turntable and suitable gearing,and a control mechanism that is mechanically actuated by controls thatare located outside of the orbit of the flying toy. The flying toyorbits in one direction right side up and in the other direction upsidedown. The control mechanism allows the direction of flight of the flyingtoy to be instantaneously changed so that the flying toy may performvarious simulated flying stunts.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJAN H975 SHEET 1 or 2 1 CAPTIVEFLYING TOY FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to captiveflying toys and more particularly to a novel control mechanism forcontrolling captive flying toys.

THE PRIOR ART Toy airplanes that fly around a centrally located pylonhave been very popular with children for a number of years. For the mostpart, such toy airplanes have included complex mechanical linkages orcounter weights to obtain simulated flying of the toy airplane. In othercases, the propeller was driven and the wings provide the necessary liftto fly the airplane. Mechanical linkages have also been employed in thelatter type of airplanes to change the elevators of the toy airplane sothat the toy airplane could perform various stunts. For the most part,the cost of materials prohibited the use of quality materials, and theseprior toy airplanes would not operate for a very long period of timeafter the child received the airplane, or the child could not manipulatethe speed control and the direction control at the same time to performthe various stunts.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide acaptive flying toy that is inexpensive yet highly reliable.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide acaptive flying toy that a child may easily operate to perform variousstunts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a captiveflying toy that features one control to change the speed and directionof orbit of the captive flying toy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the objects set forth above,the present invention provides a novel control mechanism for a captiveflying toy which allows the flying toy to orbit in one direction rightside up and in the other direction upside down. The control mechanismallows the direction of orbit and the speed of the flying toy to beinstantaneously changed so that the captive toy airplane may performvarious stunts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects, advantages,characteristic features of the present invention become readily apparentfrom the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment ofthe invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a captive flying toy in accordance withthe present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram, partially in block form, of the captiveflying toy of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of a captiveflying toy in accordance with the principles of the present invention.The captive flying toy 10 is generally comprised of a tethered object11, as illustrated by the dog SNOOPY and his dog house, a centrallylocated pylon l2 and a controller member 13. SNOOPY and his dog housemay be constructed of some lightweight material, for example, expandedpolystyrene. A propeller 23 is rotatably mounted to the front ofthe doghouse as shown. The propeller 23 is not driven but rotates as thetethered object 11 orbits the pylon 12. A streamer 23a is attached tothe rear end of the dog house as shown to provide aerodynamic drag so asto stabilize the flight of the tethered object 11.

The tethered object 11 is rotatably mounted on the outer end ofaflexible boom 14. The flexible boom may be made of suitable metallicmaterial so as to maintain flexiblity. The other end of the flexibleboom 14 is mounted to a boom mounting member 22, as illustrated by thecartoon charachter PEANUTS. The boom mounting member 22 is mounted on aturntable 21 which rotates around a pylon base housing 20. To the rightof the pylon 12 is the controller member 13. The controller member 13includes a speed and direction control handle 17 and an on/off controlknob 18 movably mounted on a controller housing 19. Two plastic tubes 15and 16 are coupled between the controller member 13 and the pylon 12.The plastic tube .15 houses a metal rod, as illustrated by the dashedline designated 150, that moves back and forth in response to movementof the speed and direciton control handle 17 to control the speed anddirection of the tethered object 11. The plastic tube 16 houses a metalrod, as illustrated by the dashed lines designated 16a, that moves inresponse to the actuation of the on/off control knob 18 to control motormeans of the captive flying toy 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a functional diagram, partiallyin block form, of the captive flying toy 10 of FIG. 1. All of theelectrical components ofthe captive flying toy 10 are located within thepylon 12, and include a motor designated NI, two pairs of batteriesdesignated D and D, two rheostats 28 and 29, a rotatably mounted on/offswitch 24, and a rotatably mounted speed and direction wiper arm 25. Themotor ably mounted on/off switch 24 is controlled by means of the on/offknob 18 which moves the metal rod 16a back and forth. In the offposition, the rotatably mounted on/off switch 24 rotates upwardly so asto lift the rotatably mounted speed and direction wiper arm 25 off ofthe rheostats 28 and 29 or the insulating member 30. The rotatablymounted speed and direction wiper arm 25 is constructed of suitableconductive ma terial. The wiper arm 25 is rotatably mounted to thehousing of the pylon 12 by means of the mounting 26 and the wiper arm 25may be rotated over the rheostats 28 and 29 by means of the movement ofthe lever arm 27 which is attached to the metal rod 15a, which in turnis controlled by the speed and direction control handle 17.

Referring now to the left hand side of FIG. 2, there is shown a dashedline, designated S, which represents the shaft of motor M. The outputend of the motor shaft S is connected to a block 21 which represents thegears, not shown, and the turntable 21 of the captive flying toy 10.Further illustrated is the flexible boom 14 3 which is coupled betweenthe captive flying toy 11 and the gears and turntable block 21'. Themotor shaft S will rotate the gears and the turntable 21 in either aclockwise or counterclockwise direction depending upon which pair ofbatteries D or D are electrically connected to the motor M.

In operating the captive flying toy 10, a child may actuate the on/offknob 18 to rotate the rotatably mounted on/off switch 24 downward so asto allow the rotatably mounted speed and direction wiper arm to comeinto contact with the rheostats 28 and 29 or the insulating member 30.If the wiper arm 25 is resting on the insulating member 30, the captiveflying toy will not be activated. However, as soon as the child movesthe speed and direction control handle 17, the wiper arm 25 will move incontact along one of the rheostats 28 or 29, and the captive flying toy10 will orbit around the pylon 12. If the child wishes to increase thespeed of the orbiting tethered object 11, he may push the handle 17 inthe same direction so as to decrease the resistance in the particularcircuit activated. On the other hand, if he desires to perform somestunt or reverse the direction of orbit of the tethered object 11, hemoves the handle in the opposite direction, whereupon the wiper arm 25will come into contact with the other rheostat. The center of gravity ofthe tethered object 11 is aft of the distal end of the flexible boom 14;therefore, the tethered object will fly right side up in one directionof orbit and will fly upside down in the other direction of orbit.

Although a particular embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modificationsand variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art andconsequently it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover suchmodifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A captive flying toy comprising:

a centrally located pylon having a turntable;

drive means coupled to said turntable for rotating said turntable;

a flexible boom having a first end and a second end, said first endconnected to said turntable of said centrally located pylon;

a toy member mounted to said second end of said flexible boom;

an electric motor and motor shaft for rotating said drive means;

a first electrical circuit including first battery means and a firstrheostat for energizing said electric motor to drive said motor shaft ina clockwise direction;

a second electrical circuit including second battery means and a secondrheostat for energizing said electric motor to drive said motor shaft ina counterclockwise direction;

mechanical means for actuating and controlling said flying toy, saidmechanical means including a conductive wiper arm that may be rotated byactuation of said mechanical means to contact either said first rheostator said second rheostat to complete electrical connection to said firstor second electrical circuit, respectively.

2. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said wiper armincludes a first and a second end. said second end adapted to come incontact with either said first or second rheostat, and said mechanicalmeans further comprises:

a lever arm attached to said first end of said wiper arm;

a connecting rod having a first and second end, said first end connectedto said lever arm, said connecting rod being longer in length than saidflexible boom; and

control means attached to said second end of said connecting rod formoving said connecting rod so as to actuate said lever arm and saidwiper arm.

3. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 2 wherein:

said drive means is housed within said centrally located pylon;

said electrical means is housed within said centrally located pylon; and

said control means is located at a remote location from said centrallylocated pylon at a distance greater than the length of said flexibleboom.

4. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said first andsecond rheostats of said electrical means are connected together by aninsulating member.

5. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said toy member isrotatably mounted to said second end of said flexible boom and said toymember includes a front end and a rear end and the center of gravity ofsaid toy member is located aft of said rotatable mounting so that saidtoy member rotates right side up in one direction and upside down in theother direction.

6. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 5 wherein said toy member isin the shape of a doghouse having a dog mounted thereon and a propelleris rotatably mounted to the front end of the doghouse and streamer meansare attached to the rear end of the doghouse to provide aerodynamic dragfor stabilizing the flight of said toy member.

7. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1 which further includes arotatable member located underneath said wiper arm that may be actuatedfor lifting said wiper arm off of either said first or second electricalcircuit.

8. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 7 which further includes aconnecting member having a first end and a second end, said first endconnected to said rotatable member, said connecting member being longerin length than said flexible boom, and actuation means attached to saidsecond end of said connecting member so as to actuate said rotatablemember.

i i l=

1. A captive flying toy comprising: a centrally located pylon having aturntable; drive means coupled to said turntable for rotating saidturntable; a flexible boom having a first end and a second end, saidfirst end connected to said turntable of said centrally located pylon; atoy member mounted to said second end of said flexible boom; an electricmotor and motor shaft for rotating said drive means; a first electricalcircuit including first battery means and a first rheostat forenergizing said electric motor to drive said motor shaft in a clockwisedirection; a second electrical circuit including second battery meansand a second rheostat for energizing said electric motor to drive saidmotor shaft in a counterclockwise direction; mechanical means foractuating and controlling said flying toy, said mechanical meansincluding a conductive wiper arm that may be rotated by actuation ofsaid mechanical means to contact either said first rheostat or saidsecond rheostat to complete electrical connection to said first orsecond electrical circuit, respectively.
 2. A captive flying toy asrecited in claim 1 wherein said wiper arm includes a first and a secondend, said second end adapted to come in contact with either said firstor second rheostat, and said mechanical means further comprises: a leverarm attached to said first end of said wiper arm; a connecting rodhaving a first and second end, said first end connected to said leverarm, said connecting rod being longer in length than said flexible boom;and control means attached to said second end of said connecting rod formoving said connecting rod so as to actuate said lever arm and saidwiper arm.
 3. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 2 wherein: saiddrive means is housed within said centrally located pylon; saidelectrical means is housed within said centrally located pylon; and saidcontrol means is located at a remote location from said centrallylocated pylon at a distance greater than the length of said flexibleboom.
 4. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said firstand second rheostats of said electrical means are connected together byan insulating member.
 5. A captive flying toy as recited in claim 1wherein said toy member is rotatably mounted to said second end of saidflexible boom and said toy member includes a front end and a rear endand the center of gravity of said toy member is located aft of saidrotatable mounting so that said toy member rotates right side up in onedirection and upside down in the other direction.
 6. A captive flyingtoy as recited in claim 5 wherein said toy member is in the shape of adoghouse having a dog mounted thereon and a propeller is rotatablymounted to the front end of the doghouse and streamer means are attachedto the rear end of the doghouse to provide aerodynamic drag forstabilizing the flight of said toy member.
 7. A captive flying toy asrecited in claim 1 which further includes a rotatable member locatedunderneath said wiper arm that may be actuated for lifting said wiperarm off of either said first or second electrical circuit.
 8. A captiveflying toy as recited in claim 7 which further includes a connectingmember having a first end and a second end, said first end connected tosaid rotatable member, said connecting member being longer in lengththan said flexible boom, and actuation means attached to said second endof said connecting member so as to actuate said rotatable member.